WATCH LIVE: Panetta announces end to ban on women in combat

The change in policy, which was reported earlier this week, has the potential to open more than 230,000 jobs that had previously been closed to women.

The decision overturns a 1994 ban on female service members in small combat units. Military services will have until 2016 to request special exceptions for positions they think should remain closed to women, according to The Associated Press.